In the production of non-woven fabrics by the ultrasonic bonding of a random fiber web utilizing an engraved anvil roll, the fabric produced sometimes has an undesirable amount of "fuzziness" on the back surface thereof (the surface facing the anvil roller). According to the present invention, it has been determined that this fuzziness is a result of fibers tending to fill in the valleys of the engraved roller, and if welding of these fibers takes place when extending into the engraved portions of the roller, the fibers will remain projecting outwardly from the fabric. Such a fuzziness limits the acceptability of the non-woven fabric for certain end uses.
According to the present invention, an anvil roller is provided for the production of non-woven fabric by ultrasonic bonding that overcomes the "fuzziness" problem. The fabric produced according to the invention--in addition to having improved acceptability due to the smoothness of the back surface thereof--also has improved strength properties since secondary welding occurs at crossover points between fibers in the web, providing a plurality of "tack" welds between the main welds. Such tack welds provide improved strength while the back surface of the web is maintained relatively flat, and free of "fuzz".
Exemplary ultrasonic welding apparatus according to the invention includes a conventional ultrasonic horn (which may be of the type disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 145,833 filed May 1, 1980 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,540, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein), with an anvil roller mounted for cooperation with the ultrasonic horn to effect ultrasonic welding of material disposed therebetween. The anvil roller has a plurality of spaced radially extending projections formed along the entire circumferential surface thereof. The projections are formed of ultrasonically conducting material (e.g. metal), as is conventional, and provide relatively high compression of the material. According to the present invention, a surface-defining material is provided between the projections, the surface-defining material consisting of ultrasonically insulating material, which provides partial fiber compression. Typical ultrasonically insulating material that is utilizable for practicing the invention includes rubber, polytetrafluoroethylene, and Mylar.
The anvil roller may comprise an engraved roller, engravings defining the volume between the projections, and the surface-defining material comprises a layer of non-metallic material substantially filling the volume between the projections with only short tip portions of the projections extending above the surface-defining material. Alternatively, the anvil roller may comprise a metal roller with the projections comprising metal pins penetrating the roller surface and upstanding therefrom, and defining a volume therebetween. The surface-defining material then comprises a layer of non-metallic material filling the volume between the pins to provide partial fiber compression, with only short tip portions of the pins extending above the surface-defining material. In each case, the distance the tips of the projections extend above the non-metallic layer may be in the range from an infinitesimal amount to a substantial portion of the length of the projections, depending upon the nature of the web, horn, etcetera. Any relative position of parts that achieves the desirable results according to the invention may be provided.
An exemplary anvil roller according to the present invention presents as the exterior surface thereof interspersed ultrasonically conducting material and ultrasonically insulating material. Preferably a regular pattern is provided for the ultrasonically conducting material, with the reset of the roller peripheral surface comprising the ultrasonically insulating material.
In the practice of a method according to the present invention, a single web (batt) of material is fed between an ultrasonic horn and an anvil roller. Sonic energy is continuously applied by the horn to the web as it passes between the horn and roller. The non-woven fabric produced from the batt of thermoplastic fibers passed between the horn and anvil has spaced primary welds corresponding to the metallic surface portions of the roller where fiber compression is relatively high, and additionally has tack welds (which may be referred to as "secondary" welds) at crossover points of fibers between the primary welds. These tack welds are caused by a softening of the thermoplastic fibers due to the initial passage of sonic energy through the batt, with partial compression of the fibers being provided in that area. Such tack welding between the primary welds increases the strength of the fabric produced, while the fuzziness often inherent in the prior art is eliminated. Additionally, it is possible to manufacture lighter weight batts into bonded fabrics by practicing the invention.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a more widely acceptable ultrasonically bonded non-woven fabric. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.